Holiday Recap

A little late but wanted to get a holiday recap out for the family. A couple days before Christmas found us visiting Eddie the Elf so Caitlyn could give him her wish list. Here in Nevada City Eddie the Elf is as big as Santa. He lives in the trunk of a tree and speaks to you through a small red door. He relates really well with kids but has wonderful appeal with parents with his adult humor as well.

Eddie lives in the tree trunk to the left

Christmas Eve found the family finalizing last minute presents and getting Santa's cookies and milk ready. Sara fell asleep early in my arms so Caitlyn was the only one we had to work on getting to go to sleep with threats that Santa wouldn't be able to bring presents to the house if she was still awake.

What was left of the cookies. Notice Caitlyn's Christmas list on right

Christmas morning found 2 little girls sleeping in while the parents and grandparents were antsy to start opening presents, eating, and drinking. Finally the girls were up and the fun could begin.

Sara looking a little overwhelmed with all the presents

The tradition in my family is everyone gets a present and then we take turns opening our gift. Then we do it all again. It makes Christmas last all morning and isn't a lot of fun when you're a kid but the girls did great.

The girls showing off their books from Aunt Anne and Uncle Steve

The girls showing off their new pj's.

The day after Christmas found our families heading down to San Francisco for a new adventure. Last year we decided we wanted to see the Emerald Bowl at AT&T park where the Giants play during the summer. I had never been to a college football game before and wasn't disappointed.

Earlier in the day found us playing tourist in Union Square and it was really nice seeing the City all decked out for the holidays.

The girls watching the ice skaters

Sara and her daddy deep in conversation

After a short respite back at the hotel to regroup we started the adventure of getting to the park. We stay near Chinatown and North Beach. We knew we had to catch the 30 or 45 bus that would drop us off a couple blocks from the field. Unfortunately, everyone in Chinatown wanted to catch the same buses. My mom, the girls, and I were able to squeeze onto a bus but Pat and my Dad couldn't fit. We agreed we'd stay on the bus and they would catch the next one. But once the doors closed I confirmed with the driver that this bus would go to the ball park and she said yes, it normally does but not today. We would have to get off the bus and get on the next one. So at the next stop we got off but the next bus was full. My dad and Pat were on that bus and imagine their surprise when they looked out the window and saw us standing on the sidewalk. Thank goodness for cell phones, we were able to explain to them that we'd catch the next bus. After a couple more tries we did just that and it wasn't long before we were all reunited and made our way to the park.

Watching the parachutist

There were 3 parachutist in all, one for Cal, one for Miami, and this one was carrying the American flag.

Our seats were right on the 50 yard line, 7 rows up. Absolutely perfect. The game was great, the energy of the crowd incredible. Quite different from watching a baseball game in the same park. The score stayed close and we were all rewarded with a Cal Bears win.

The highlight of the trip was definitely the football game but a close second were the 2 runs I got to do along the Embarcadero and around Crissy field. There's nothing I love more (in the city) then to get up early and run through the streets of San Francisco. It's peaceful, clean, and quiet and I love to see other runners out there enjoying the same sights as I am.

Sorry for the long post. Hope you got through it. If you visit just for the running stories, sorry, I hope to have more about running in the near future. Mostly my running consists of miles on the treadmill. Boring, but necessary. My doctor said I'm not quite over the hump in healing from my stress fracture but definitely getting there. I have some ambitious plans for this year and I just hope I can stay healthy to fulfill my goals.